Life, love and strawberries on the beach
by stylishkiller
Summary: Duo teaches Heero to dance the tango, but will their feelings for each other ever come out in the open? Featuring a GW pilot in a dress, champagne and a sunrise. 1+2, 3+4 and fluffiness...


Disclaimer: Don't own - so don't sue.  
Note: This is my 2nd ever GW romance fanfic... It's a one shot. And its 4am - so expect some errors... I'll get someone to edit it later.   
I'd also appreciate some feedback.   
Pairings: 1+2, 3+4.  
  
"Hey Heero!" the extra-cheerful braided boy entered the dark room where the only light came from the laptop and switched on the bright lights.  
"Hn," was the reply. Heero's hands kept on flying over the keyboard.  
"How are you?" continued Duo undeterred by the reception he was getting.  
"Hn..."  
"I'm glad to see you too," and to tell the truth - he was.  
"Have you heard about the compulsory formal ball thingy? Who are you taking?" Duo made one more try at starting a conversation - this time with feeling.  
"I'm not going."  
Wow... Progress - words. "But why not?" the braided boy continued surprised and encouraged. "And anyway - it's compulsory - you don't have a choice."  
"When has the word 'compulsory' ever had an effect on my actions? Anyway - if I told you my reason for not going you'd laugh,' Heero's voice took a turn for the vulnerable.  
"Huh?" Duo was shocked... Heero? Insecure? Well - wonders never cease. " I promise that I won't," he said sincerely.  
"I can't dance. I don't dance. I'd rather break my own leg than have to dance in public, and that's exactly what I intend to do."  
Duo was stunned into silence.  
But not for long -  
"You mean that your doctor never made you have dancing lessons? And you've lived with me for next to 4 years and you can't dance?! Wow, Heero, so the Perfect Soldier does have flaws... Heero, who would have figured..." Duo trailed off at 1000 km an hour.  
Actually it explained a lot - like why Heero avoided the dance parties that Duo went to (and ALWAYS invited him to) or the ones Duo threw, and why he always stayed away from Relena's formal balls then he could have learned so much juicy information from them.  
"I'll teach you - if you let me," Duo said quietly and continued - "If only to save myself from feeling sick at the sound of you resetting your own leg," he offered without hesitation, opening himself up for Heero's rejection with a slight smile lighting up his pale face.  
Heero looked up from the lap top and his eyes scanned his partners face - he instantly realised that he had just committed one of the worst tactical blunders in history - because Duo would never let up on this issue - it was just easier to give up or go and get yourself killed by the enemy, there was no third choice.  
"Oh - alright," he said neutrally, "it's very kind of you..." he tried to continue, but was enveloped in a quick, brotherly hug by Duo and dragged off to clear furniture from the middle of their tiny dorm room. Heero didn't mind, he loved seeing Duo all enthusiastic - full of light and bouncy energy, but he wished that the hug had been longer and less chaste.  
****  
About a week later, Quatre and Trowa were passing the room that Duo and Quatre shared then they heard some very out-of-character music emerging.  
They paused.  
And overheard a very strange conversation, make that... monologue - almost a soliloquy, wafting out the door -  
"Not *there* Heero, your hands should go on my waist - not my hips and tighter, damn you! One could thing that I was spun out of glass and this was your first time. Now - that's better - and thrust - and pause and thrust," Duos voice carried in time with the music, almost a part of it.  
Quatre and Trowa exchanged a LOOK.  
"But they can't! Come on - all that chemistry and angst ending so suddenly and for no apparent reason?" cried Quatre.  
Abruptly the door opened.  
And what Trowa and Quatre saw then, surprised them even more than what they thought was going on...  
It was Heero and Duo standing in the middle of the room - they were in the middle of a tango. Duo even had a blood red rose in his lips, and was leaning back in the 'fall-back pose' with only Heero to hold him up.  
Four pairs of eyes met. Four boys blushed. Successive blinks followed and Trowa (of all the people) began to giggle.  
"Errr... we're practicing for the ball - I was just showing Yuy some tango moves that he wasn't familiar with," Duo began and received a grateful look from Heero. "Are the two of you going? Who are you taking?" Duos tactics instantly changed tactics from informative to a full out attack.  
Trowa and Quatre immediately blushed and looked at each other. Trowa took Quatre's hand, and the blond boy began the explanations - "We're going together..." he said very quietly, looking away - uncertain of the reception these news would receive from Mr. Perfect and the Cheerful Death.  
Duo grinned - "Good for you. I myself have yet to find a date, but if I should be so lucky as to find one half as pretty as either of you, I'll thank the stars."  
Trowa looked at Quatre and returned Duo's smile - "You're in for a challenge."  
****  
Duo walked in to the room and collapsed on the bed exhausted. Another "successful" mission ending. Heero, abandoning the laptop, grabbed some lotion and bandages and began to fix his partner - a familiar routine, which had been in place for as long as either could remember.  
"So, what's got you so down?" Heero asked casually.  
"I lost a bet."  
"So?" Heero couldn't see the significance.  
"I lost a bet to Wufei."  
"Oh," now that was different. Very different. "What are the conditions?"  
"I have three choices -1) I have to cut my hair to shoulder length; 2) Paint Deathscythe puurrrrrple or 3) I have to cross dress and find myself a date for the ball," Duo really sounded stricken and tired of it all, which alarmed Heero.   
"Want me to get the paint?" he tried joking.  
Bad manoeuvre... Duos face became helpless and his eyes began to fill & glisten with unshed tears. It was obvious that the mission had left him at the end of his resources. Heero sighed. He couldn't stand seeing Duo this way. Something in his chest didn't let him, and would torture him badly if he did.  
"Well I'll accompany you, if you'd like," he said, trying to seem nonchalant, and failing miserably.  
"Oh, would you, Hee-chan?" Duo's weary eyes instantly glowed with affection.  
"Yes, if only to save myself from the attentions of a certain Peacecraft - and I don't mean Zechs. But now sleep - we'll work out the details tomorrow," Heero said as he tucked his already sleeping partner in and laid a chaste, affectionate kiss on his forehead.  
****  
Duo was ready.  
He had a fake ID card - registered as Oud Llewxam.  
He had the perfect dress.  
He had had his hair done.  
And to top it all off he had an absolutely wonderful date, who was half scowling, half smiling at him, looking gorgeous in the grey tux.  
****  
The "mission" was going as planned. Heero and Duo were having fun together - more fun that either of them had had in a long while, if ever. Wufei had seen his handiwork and approved, but he was busy with his girlfriend, Aury... Aurenne, Loz something or other, so didn't gloat - too much.  
Heero began to relax - and didn't even mind being the centre of attention when he and Duo took to the dance floor - they made a truly stunning couple. Quatre and Trowa had commented, first being very surprised at seeing Duo in a dress and then delighted to see how well the two were getting on. Both even requisitioned a dance from the 'little lady' and, after being semi-killed by Duo for the comment, got to move at speeds inaccessible to most man-kind, for although Duo was in a dress, he still tended to lead.  
****  
Duo couldn't come up with an explanation for the feelings he had been having. He had known Heero for what seemed like forever, and had had a crush on him for about half of that time. But in the last couple of weeks - spending so much time with Heero, he had formed a bond which went beyond *real* friendship, much less a crush.  
He was confused.   
He was in pain.   
He was in love.  
****  
Quatre and Trowa got down to some deep and dirty scheming.  
"Are you sure?"  
"Yes."  
"But why there?"  
"Because."  
"And with strawberries?"  
"Yes. And don't forget the chocolate."  
Quatre grinned mischievously as he was punching buttons on the mobile phone.   
****  
The ball was coming to a close.  
Heero looked at the waning crowds with disappointment - feeling like Cinderella who had just met Prince Charming only to run off as the clock struck 12. He needed to talk to Duo. But... - he couldn't. And he knew this opportunity would never arise again. Yes, the Perfect Soldier had flaws.  
****  
Trowa and Quatre finally located Duo (boy-mode again).  
"I was getting mobbed by all the boys. They all wanted to dance. It was damned funny. And I had to make an appearance as myself anyway - or I would have had a lovely after-school detention tomorrow and gotten to clean up this mess," he said with an exasperated sigh.  
Quatre saw something not entirely right in the violet eyes... Just as he had suspected. And as Heero joined the three of them, Quatre saw an echo of Duo's pain reflected in the prussian blue of Heero's gaze.  
****  
The limo was waiting for them outside. It was long, and the driver was outside graciously pulling open the door, awaiting the passengers.  
"Master Quatre, everything has been arranged as to your instructions."  
Quatre and Trowa exchanged a quick conspiratory glance.  
"What's all this?" asked Duo curiously.  
"It's a surprise," explained Trowa.  
"Now both of you get in," Quatre had to physically push Heero into the limo, while Trowa took the more complaisant Duo.  
Eventually everyone was in the limo, and somehow Quatre had managed to convince Duo and Heero to put on the blindfolds, while Trowa distributed the glasses of the sparkling champagne... Lots of giggling followed.  
****  
They ended up on a beach of while sand with the crystal clear ocean lapping at the clean shore. The sky was the misty morning grey, just beginning to be lit up by the first rays of the sunrise.  
The single table, set for two stood in the midst of it all.  
There were strawberries, and cream and chocolate along with a vintage bottle of good-quality cherry liquor on it illuminated by the pair of candles mournfully blowing on the wind.  
Trowa and Quatre took the blindfolds off Heero and Duo after sitting them down.  
Trowa whispered - "Go for it" into Heero's ear and with that they were gone.  
Duo and Heero were alone on the beach.  
Looking at each other.  
Looking at nothing else, but each other's eyes, surrounded by the woeful never-ending music of the lapping waves.  
They began in unison:  
"I have something to tell you..."  
Both, stopping abashedly and blushing.  
"You should go first."  
"No, you."  
"How about we go together?"  
The compromise worked...  
"I love you."  
Their gazes met.  
They saw one another, almost like in strange mirror - their desires, fears, hopes and dreams were written plainly on their faces.  
They sat in silence... For a while. Then Duo timidly picked up a strawberry, dipped it into the whipped cream and fed it to Heero.  
They watched the sun come up.  
And they did it together.  
****  
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So what did you think?  
Please tell me - I need to know what needs to be changed & added & etc.  
And remind me to stop staying up so late... I'm gonna wake up with a major headache tomorrow. 


End file.
